Top stories of 2010: Herseth Sandlin falls to Noem in House race

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Victory part of sweep that strengthened GOP dominance in South Dakota

Supported by an electorate unhappy with incumbents, Democrats and government in general, Kristi Noem upended Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's U.S. House re-election bid in November.

American News staffers voted the election battle as the No. 3 story of 2010.

Noem, a Republican from Castlewood, will serve on the House natural resources and labor/education committees.

Herseth Sandlin, a Houghton native, has not announced her long-term plans. But she will serve on the Indian Law and Order Commission, created by the Tribal Law and Order Act. It's a national group will study tribal criminal justice systems.

During the campaign, Noem's message to voters was that Herseth Sandlin had lost touch with South Dakota. Noem often paired Herseth Sandlin with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, and criticized Herseth Sandlin for saying she wouldn't vote to repeal President Obama's federal health care plan.

The House contest was one of the most closely watched in the nation. Noem had a lead for much of the night, though the race wasn't called until just before midnight. She finished with 48.1 percent of the vote. Herseth Sandlin followed with 45.9 percent, while independent B.T. Marking of Custer finished with 6 percent.

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Noem's victory - unlikely a year ago as she had not announced her candidacy and was a relatively new member of the state Legislature - helped the Republicans take control of the U.S. House.

Republicans picked up more than 50 seats on Election Day and next year will hold a 242-193 advantage in the House, though Democrats still control the Senate.

The GOP trend was even more pronounced in South Dakota.

Herseth Sandlin aside, none of the seven Democratic candidates for statewide office reached even 40 percent. And 13 seats in the Legislature switched from Democratic to Republican control.

Noem named Jordan Stoick, a Mobridge native, as her chief of staff. He previously worked at a public relations/communications firm.

Russ Levsen, an Aberdeen native, is Herseth Sandlin's outgoing deputy chief of staff. He has said he won't decide what he will do next until after the new year.

Herseth Sandlin, who graduated from Groton High School and Georgetown University, was elected to the House in June 2004 after Bill Janklow resigned his seat as the result his involvement in traffic accident that killed a Minnesota man.